November 1, 2012 (San Diego) –Responding to complaints from neighbors of two organic farms in Escondido and Jacumba, County Supervisors on October 30 approved a plan to order farmers to reduce eye gnat infestations. The plan adopted stops short of allowing the county to order pesticide use, but does give the county the right to order other abatement measures if voluntary efforts don’t work.
For details, see ECM news partner 10 News’ article at http://www.10news.com/news/county-tentatively-approves-program-to-reduce...
The vote was 4-0; Supervisor Bill Horn, who owns an organic farm, recused himself.
Countywide, only two organic farms have been found to have significant eye gnat infestations. One of those, located in Jacumba, recently announced plans to cease farming due to a lack of well water, leaving only one farm likely to be directly impacted in the near future. The Jacumba eye gnat infestation had sparked vocal protests from citizens and community leaders
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